Hosted by Colm Quinn, The CSIS Podcast dissects the big (and soon-to-be big) stories of the week in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.

The Readout

History

In this weeks’ War Studies Podcast, Bradley Murray speaks to Hiruy Gossaye from Transparency International about their recent index outlining corruption in the defence industries across Africa.

The event that this interview was based on was co-hosted by the Africa Research Group, African Leadership Centre and Transparency International UK (Defence and Security Progamme).

Hiruy Gossaye is the project officer for Transparency International’s Defence and Security programme, which has recently released a report entitled ‘The Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index’, which looks at the levels of corruption in the defence industries of African states. We spoke to him about the difficulty writing this report, the findings of it including the impact of international arms exports on corruption in the continent, as well as the implications of the index as well.

Jayne Peake provides details of next weeks’ events.

The Government Defence Anti-Corruption Index can be found here: 
http://government.defenceindex.org/
The Panel Discussion on Defence Corruption Across Africa can be listened to here: 
https://soundcloud.com/warstudies/destabilising-defence-how-corruption-undermines-security-across-africa


DISCLAIMER: Any information, statements or opinions contained in this podcast are those of the individual speakers. They do not represent the opinions of the Department of War Studies or King's College London.

Defence Corruption Across Africa and the Undermining of Security

Speaker: Dr Eirin Mobekk
Chair: Dr Kieran Mitton, War Studies, King's College London

This lecture will discuss implementation of security and justice programming in peace operations; identifying key constraints; and the policy-operational gaps. It will examine the changing approach in addressing security and justice programming and what more is needed to consolidate effective implementation. It will draw on experiences from a range of missions, but in particular UNMISS and MINUSTAH. 

Speaker profile:
Dr. Eirin Mobekk specialises in security sector reform, UN peace operations, the rule of law, and transitional justice. She has managed and implemented programmes; conducted research, analysis, evaluations; lectured and trained and published in the areas of peace building, post-conflict reconstruction, governance, rule of law, security sector reform, transitional justice and policing. She has worked in a number of post-conflict countries across the world. She was Chief of SSR Section in UNMISS; and Country Director in South Sudan for Saferworld. She received her doctorate at the Department of War Studies, King’s College, London.   

Her latest book is entitled: UN peace operations and post-conflict reconstruction: Learning lessons from Haiti (forthcoming 2016 Routledge). 

Hosted by the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group (CSDRG).

Security and Justice in UN Peace Operations: A Changing Approach?

Speaker: Roger Mac Ginty, Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manchester.

Chair: Dr Kieran Mitton, War Studies, King's College London.

Part of the Conflict, Security & Development Research Group Approaches to Understanding Violence Seminar Series.

"Humans have been writing about violence for a long time. But have we, as students of peace and conflict, managed to get it right? Often we write about conflict rather than violence. Or writing about violence is left to specialists in gender studies, human rights or clinical anthropology. Much mainstream Peace and Conflict Studies seems to have sidestepped writing about violence. This session - a personal reflection - considers issues of positionality, form and appropriateness when writing about violence."

Speaker Profile:
Mac GintyRoger Mac Ginty is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, and the Department of Politics. His research has been on peace processes, political violence, and local responses to international peace-support interventions. He has conducted field research in Bosnia-Herzgovina, Croatia, Georgia, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Uganda and the US. He edits the journal Peacebuilding (with Oliver Richmond) and edits a book series with Palgrave entitled 'Rethinking Political Violence' (eleven books published so far). His latest books include 'International Peacebuilding and Local Resistance: Hybrid Forms of Peace' (2011) and the 'Routledge Handbook on Peacebuilding' (2013). In 2014, his four volume edited Sage Major Work on Peacebuilding was published, and in 2015 the Routledge Companion to Humanitarian Action (edited with Jenny H Peterson) was published. He is also researching everyday peace indicators (with colleagues at George Mason University and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation) - a project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He is seconded to The Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (HCRI).
 


How Should We Write About Violence?

This year marks the 15th anniversary off 9/11 and the 75th of Pearl Harbour. The Sir Michael Howard Centre and PS21 examine how major shocks such as these - also including natural disasters such as Fukushima - can be managed by both government and others. How do they change our actions, how do they shift public opinion? 
Tom Bruxner [moderator] - former British Army officer
Group Captain Ian Shields - former RAF officer with experience in Afghanistan, currently teaching at Anglia Ruskin University
Frederic Ischebeck-Baum - former UNODC Counter-Piracy Advisor, fellow of the Cambridge Security Initiative
John Bassett - former GCHQ official and head of London and Washington stations
 
This is a joint event between the Sir Michael Howard Centre for the History of War at King's College London and PS21 (www.projects21.org).

Managing Strategic Shocks with PS21

Event recording from 6th of June 2017

Inaugural Annual Lecture with Guest Speaker Professor Joseph Nye, with introduction by Dr Neville Bolt, Director of the King's Centre for Strategic Communications. 

Joseph S. Nye Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor, and former Dean of the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Professor Joseph Nye: “I’m much more worried about the rise of Trump than the rise of China”

In this episode, Cornel Ban speaks about the long-term implications of Brexit and the need for Europe to return to something resembling post-war paradigm in which employment and measures to reduce social inequalities formed the core of European economic policy. He then weighs the costs and benefits of a two-speed Europe, while condemning the blame-shifting among EU Member States onto debtor states and countries located at the periphery of Europe, as well as the emergence of new divisions in Europe in place of the former East-West divide. Ban ends by sharing his hope that Europeans remain optimistic and rediscover Europe's traditional strengths of community, environmental sustainability, and progressive urbanism. His vision for Europe is a truly inspiring one, making this podcast well worth a listen. [Date of interview: April 12, 2017]

EU Futures - Episode 57 - Cornel Ban

Speaker(s): Bill Emmott | Liberal democracies of the West are in decline. A former editor of the Economist explains how they must change in order to recover and thrive. When faced with global instability and economic uncertainty, it is tempting for states to react by closing borders, hoarding wealth and solidifying power. We have seen it at various times in Japan, France and Italy and now it is infecting all of Europe and America, as the vote for Brexit in the UK has vividly shown. This insularity, together with increased inequality of income and wealth threatens the future role of the West as a font of stability, prosperity and security. Part of the problem is that the principles of liberal democracy upon which the success of the West has been built have been suborned, with special interest groups such as bankers accruing too much power and too great a share of the economic cake. So how is this threat to be countered? States such as Sweden in the 1990s, California at different times or Britain under Thatcher all halted stagnation by clearing away the powers of interest groups and restoring their societies' ability to evolve. To survive, the West needs to be porous, open and flexible. From reinventing welfare systems to redefining the working age, from reimagining education to embracing automation, Emmott will lay out the changes the West must make to revive itself in the moment and avoid a deathly rigid future. Bill Emmott (@bill_emmott) was the editor-in-chief of the Economist from 1993 to 2006, and is now a writer and consultant on international affairs. He is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, La Stampa and Nikkei Business. His latest book is The Fate of the West: The Battle to Save the World's Most Successful Political Idea. Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) is an LSE Fellow in Comparative Politics and author of The Despot's Accomplice: How the West is Aiding & Abetting the Decline of Democracy.

Fate of the West: the battle to save the world's most successful political idea [Audio]

On the second show this week, we talk about what’s behind Catalonia’s independence drive, how the EU-UK Brexit negotiations are stalling, and a now-familiar story: the rise of the far-right in Europe, this time in Austria. With CSIS Europe Program Director Heather Conley. Hosted by Colm Quinn.
 (Read more at https://csis.org/podcasts/csis-podcast/catalonias-independence-push-brexit-update-and-austrias-elections-0)

Cataloniaâs Independence Push, Brexit Update, and Austriaâs Elections

After Chinese President Xi Jinping’s elevation to Mao-like status at the Chinese Communist Party National Congress this week, we look at what his rise means for China and the rest of the world. We’re joined by CSIS’s Freeman Chair in China Studies Chris Johnson. Hosted by Colm Quinn.
Chris’s analysis from October 18: “Xi Jinping Opens 19th Party Congress Proclaiming a New Era—His”
 (Read more at https://csis.org/podcasts/csis-podcast/what-xi-jinpings-ascent-means)

What Xi Jinpingâs Ascent Means

Following the deaths of four U.S. servicemen last month in a militant ambush, the question of America’s involvement in that country and wider region have been hotly debated. This week we hear from Africa Program Director Jennifer Cooke on why the U.S. is there to begin with, the danger of over-militarizing the region, and what an African-led solution would look like. Hosted by Colm Quinn.
 (Read more at https://csis.org/podcasts/csis-podcast/why-us-forces-are-niger)

Why U.S. forces are in Niger

After the mass-arrests of dozens of royal family members in Saudi Arabia on corruption charges, we look at how Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's latest move will affect the kingdom and the wider region. With Middle East Program Director Jon Alterman. Hosted by Colm Quinn.
 (Read more at https://csis.org/podcasts/csis-podcast/royal-mess-whats-happening-saudi-arabia)

A Royal Mess: What's Happening in Saudi Arabia

As conditions in Yemen continue to deteroriate from a disastrous civil war, we get an update on the facts on the ground from the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen Jamie McGoldrick. Hosted by Colm Quinn.

Yemen's Human Catastrophe

Speaker(s): Professor James Robinson | Countries grow economically if they can build inclusive economic institutions. They stagnate if they have exclusive institutions. It is political conflicts and how they are resolved which determines the path a society follows. James Robinson is David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University. Wed, 8 Jun 2011 18:30:00 GMT

What Xi Jinpingâs Ascent Means

CSIS

What Xi Jinpingâs Ascent Means